Local 79 and OCHU sign solidarity pact
The leaders of CUPE Local 79 and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE signed a solidarity pact today, committing the organizations and their members to support one another in bargaining.
CUPE Local 79’s 20,000 members are in bargaining now with the City of Toronto. The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions has 42,000 members, over 10,000 of whom are in the Greater Toronto Area.
“The members of both our unions are at the frontline of providing care for Toronto’s residents. We care deeply about the quality of health and social service delivery that Toronto’s communities rely on and recognize that we must be unified against attempts to chip away at them,” said David Mitchell, president of CUPE Local 79.
“Negotiations at the City of Toronto will have a large impact on the public sector bargaining climate. Hospital staff share with CUPE Local 79 the goals of pushing back concessions, addressing precarity of employment and achieving a real wage increase. Our local leaders and members will help in any way that we can,” said Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE.
Pictured above from left: Sharon Richer, OCHU Secretary Treasurer; Jason Chan, CUPE Local 79 First Vice-President; Dave Mitchell, CUPE Local 79 President; and Michael Hurley, OCHU President).